If the US miner is found to have mined too close to a large jarrah tree, it would trigger an automatic cancellation of its right to mine much of its lease.
Emissions of natural gas, methane, directly to the atmosphere are about 80 times more warming than the same weight of CO2 over a 20-year period.
Unintended release of methane is a significant issue in determining the full climate change effect of gas production and use.
